The week back in January when we launched The Pickup was a rather frenzied period of my life. One of the highlights was getting to work on Kathryn Parkman’s first Pickup story, which took us into two Oklahoma women’s prisons where incarcerated journalists were producing their own newspapers.
As a startup publication operating on a unique model ourselves, Alicia, Zack and I were quite captivated by Kathryn’s story. It reminded us that the practice of journalism transcends the professional world—not to mention languages, boundaries, and in this case, captivity—in its goal to verify, inform, advocate and generally make the world a little less wrong than it was the day before.
So I was honored when the nonprofit Poetic Justice invited me to a series of editing sessions with the journalists producing the The Warrior Standard newspaper at Dr. Eddie Warrior Correctional Center in nearby Taft, Oklahoma. Oklahoma is among the states that incarcerates the most women per capita, and Poetic Justice has been working for years to address that inequity by bringing creative writing to women in Oklahoma's prisons and jails.
We’ve met twice so far and I plan to keep going back. The journalists at Eddie Warrior are sharp, funny and know their beats and audience as well as any journalist I’ve ever known. I’ve committed to continue working with them to adapt and republish their Standard stories here in The Pickup, and we’re excited to get to bring their perspective to share with you.
Now on to this week’s news roundup.
Tulsa News
- Hostile architecture shows its ugly face in downtown Tulsa and Oklahoma City too
- Scott Taylor launches new gallery complete with typo in its exhibit title
- Mayor’s office releases more details on $6M Safe Move Tulsa Rehousing Initiative; vote scheduled for August 20
- Tulsa-area tenants are getting evicted after their housing was bought up by a Texas landlord
State & Regional News
- Ryan Walters …. vindicated? You’ve got to read this truly remarkable story in The Oklahoman where reporter Murray Evans describes nude scenes in the 1985 Jackie Chan movie The Protector that seem to match up with what state board of education members saw on TV in Walters’ office.
- A federal appeals court upheld a state ban on gender-affirming care for trans kids
- School districts across the state are taking varying approaches to enforcing the new “bell to bell” cell phone ban
- A tribal sovereignty case in Oklahoma could make for national implications if it kicks up to the U.S. Supreme Court
Tulsa Jobs and Opportunities
- Kitchen 66 is now accepting applications for El Programa de Lanzamiento, a program for Spanish-language food entrepreneurs
- Tulsa City-County Library is seeking artists for VERSES, an annual arts and literacy event benefiting the Ruth G. Hardman Adult Literacy Service, on Saturday, Sept. 27. Applications for artists are online here, and more information about VERSES is available here.
- FC Tulsa seeks a Chief Business Officer/Chief Revenue Officer | Full-time | Salary not listed
- Northside Neighbors seeks a Director, Community Wellness | Full-time | Salary $70,000-$80,000
- ONEOK seeks an Engineer IV | Full-time | Salary $127,000-$191,000
- Saint Francis Health Systems seeks a Communication Director | Full-time | Salary not listed
